Tales of the hidden supernova
by enomiel
Summary: On this day on this island a new star was born in the world piracy. How come her head never got a prime before, why is the world government silent on her past history? Let's come back a little back in time and follow the tales of this hidden supernova. OC
1. Fleur de Lys

Hello to every readers here, this is my first fanfiction and I decided to go for an OC centred adventure in the One Piece universe with high possibilities to see familiar character here and then. As it is my first try I'm sorry for the mistake I'm bond to make but dont hesitad to R&R, I'll be happy to have critism to help me getting better. Rated T for eventual violence and swearing.

Disclamer : This fan work is not to sell, not to rent and not created to make any profit, One Piece universe and characters are all property of Eiichiro Oda and not mine, if you've read this piece of legal stuff up to there then you're a good boy/girl ... thumb's up.

this is naration (3rd person)

-"this is dialogue"

_this is character thougts_

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This story begin on the island known by the name of Koliru. This is a small island with no interesting resource for commerce and no special place for tourism but since it is located right on a major trade route of East Blue with no other island around a lot of commerce ship are forced to stop here to resupply and thus the island and it's only town sharing the same name has prospered.

So the appearance of yet another ship on the horizon was no big event for the townsfolk but as the approaching form became more clearly visible some people showed a worried frown, black flag and white skull : a pirate ship. Even if in this golden age of piracy it was unavoidable to meet some of them the occurrence was still rare on Koliru, the island was too small to interest pirates and the trade routes were well patrolled by marines. Even when pirates showed up they often came only to resupply as any other ship and didn't cause any trouble, after all most of the big player were on the Grand Line, the less daring pirates of East Blue would rather avoid to take on all at once the numerous ships stationed at Koliru at any given time.

This time some details were odd tough : the white skull on the flag was not human but some fishlike creature's skull and in place of the traditional crossed bones were two crossed lightning bolt.

"_fishlike skull, does that means a merman crew ?"_

On the port's dock a lonely figure was pondering on the incoming pirates nature.

"_The only noteworthy merman pirates around here is Arlong's gang but that's not his flag, then is it some newcomer?"_

It was a young woman standing on the wooden dock, relatively tall for a girl her long black hairs were going all the way down her back, her skin was white but not livid and her noisette eyes did not show any sign of fear at the sight of the pirate ship. She was wearing navy blue skirt and jacket with black legging but the clothes were made to allow easy movement rather than sexiness, the outfit gave an impression of military uniform though this was clearly not from the marine, impression reinforced by the finely crafted rapier lying on her side.

"_But either Arlong or a newcomer should have little interest in this island, trading ship are more easily taken on high sea. If it was just another pirate ship they could just be coming for provision and rest but since they seem to be merman I doubt they would stop in a place so crowded with human"_

At the same time on the pirate ship, a serpentine merman was talking with another one who seemed to came out of some H.P. Lovecraft novel

-"According to the information I gathered our target should be on this island captain"

The tentacle dude was a squid type merman and the captain an ell type, suddenly a shout came from the crow's nest.

-"I have the target in visual sir, she is at the port!"

-"Well it seems your skill have not dulled Ikatama, and how gracious of her to spare us the hassle of searching the whole town … ALL RIGHT BOYS TIME TO GET TO WORK!"

The ship aimed directly for the girl in blue who pulled back to the town's central place, the mermen quickly followed as well as a good nuber of the town's habitants. The pirate's captain then began to talk in a loud voice.

-"Hello everyone, as you can see we are pirates but fears not, we have no interest in your pathetic lives or this crappy town, all I ask is that the girl in blue over there quietly surrender to us, if so I might show some mercy and leave without burning the place"

The men who assembled there turned their gaze to the girl who did not seem afraid one bit from the ell guy statement .

-"And who might you be mister merman, understand that I cannot surrender myself to some unknown person just like that"

The girl asked in a dignified tone to which the merman answered with a smirk.

-"Opsy I beg your pardon milady, it's sure we don't meet someone with such a status as Yuri Delys, daughter of the marine head's in charge of the whole East Blue. I am the fearsome captain Kayabaki aka the ocean's lightning, now that the presentations are done will you behave and follow us?"

The townsfolk now looked at the girl with astonishment, the name of Delys was well known on all of East Blue.

-"My my, you seem to know a lot about me but for my part I have never heard of a fearsome captain Baka yaki to let myself being caught by third class pirates would bring shame to the Delys name, therefore I refuse to comply with your demand"

-" Watch your mouth little girl, you'd better not try my patience, if you don't behave we'll kill everyone on this island … AND ITS CAPTAIN KAYABAKI YOU LITTLE BITCH!!!"

-"Ah so, but you seem pretty reckless, exactly what my dad would call "une tête brulée", plus you don't seem very smart : killing everyone on this island would include me who you want as hostage and your crew, that would be pretty stupid isn't it?"

A big vein was now clearly showing on the merman's forehead

-"Then the name Baka Yaki is perfectly fit for you"

-"NOW YOU'VE DONE IT, I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE DEAD EVERYONE AFTER HER!!!"

But Yuri had already begun to retreat.

"_As expected of this brutish moron, now that I have his whole attention he should not do anything to the people of the town for some time, if I can keep him occupied until the marine send back up... The mayor as a direct denden mushi line with the closest marine base so it should not take too long"_

But she was interrupted in her thought: a huge man, probably over two meter high placed himself between her and her pursuer.

"_Damn I misread this one, I thought the townsfolk would not interfere out of fear but this town has a brutish moron of it's own" _

-"Who the hell do you think you are uh? In this town the only one allowed to create trouble is this Saturbos-sama!"

The man then threw a punch at the closest pirate who happened to be the squid merman , caught by surprise he didn't avoided and the punch connected with a...

*ssqqquiish*

-"huh? Wait what?"

*tud*

The man was surprised by the weird sound before losing balance and falling to the ground, Yuri looked at the squid merman who was unscratched

"_I see, physical bludgeoning attack won't work on this one"_

Indeed when the man's punch connected it just slipped on the skin of the merman face thus throwing him off-balance.

"_With this rubbery and slippery skin added to the sturdy constitution of merman he probably don't fear even gun outside of pointblank shot"_

-" It's not like you mongrel could do anything to him but …"

The pirate captain was now just by the man who quickly stood up.

-"… to just put your fucking monkey hand on one of my men you really don't care about your life!"

-"Shu… shut rotten fish I'll send you back to the ocean !"

The man punched again but the merman just caught it in his hand before it connected

-"I'll give you the shock of your life … UNA GIGA CHOQUE !!!!"

The man was suddenly covered in a shining halo and for an instant his whole skeleton was visible for the world to see.

"_Electricity? Some ell species are indeed able to generate bioelectricity, but the merman version is something else"_

As the now blackened man once again fell on the ground Yuri was evaluating the situation.

"_This is bad, now they will attack the people here if I flee, I can take out some of them and the battlefield is in my favor but they'll win with sheer number in the end, I need at least one other competent fighter if I want to stall them until the marines arrival …"_

Yuri looked at the people around her, they were all shocked by the merman's demonstration not moving even a finger.

"_But nobody here seem to be fit for the task … "_

Then a voice coming from the place entrance was heard

-"What is happening here?"

... to be continued

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And that's it for now, I'm working on the next part and hope to upload it soon, as a side note I want to precise that yuri is talking with the japanese "watakushi" typical of princess girl type in manga and using very polite form of speaking most of the time ( a bit harder to render in english especialy since it's not my native tonge).

I've tried to put some pun with name here as Oda sensei tend to do ( especialy zoro's move "eibi mayonaise onigiri" lol ^^ ) so don't hesitate to tell me if it was well done or completly lame.


	2. Sharper than a sword

Hello everyone, I'm back with the second chapter of Tales Of the Hidden Supernova (let's say for short TOHS), we are now entering a real combat scene and I am not sure if I managed it well, anyway thanks to all of you who are reading my little works, don't hesitate to review I'm open to any comment.

Disclamer : This fan work is not to sell, not to rent and not created to make any profit, One Piece universe and characters are all property of Eiichiro Oda and not mine

this is naration (3rd person)

-"this is dialogue"

_this is character thougts_

*this is sound and onomatopoeia* (forgot that one last time but I think it was understandable in situ, if it caused some confusion I am sorry_)  
_

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

…

-"What is happening here?"

An elderly voice was heard from the place north entrance.

-"What is causing such a ruckus, you youngster are so noisy it could be heard from the forest"

The townsfolk moved aside to let the voice owner the place to go freely. Some of them were clearly afraid and a lot of whispering came out of the crowd.

-"The forest witch"

-"it's her, what is she doing here?"

-"first merman and now the witch came out, what will happen now"

The "forest witch" form was revealed as the crowd parted to open a path for her, as the voice indicated it was an old woman but tough clearly old she stood firmly on her feet, the wooden stick she carried looked more like a symbol of her elder status than a tool for support, her eyes were still sharp and detailed the scene in front of her as she asserted the situation. Any way you looked at her she was clearly not just your common geezer. The old woman arrival took every one aback and even the pirates were frozen still as she resumed talking.

-"Oh, if that is not mermen, I have not seen one since my young days and moreover pirates mermen, no wonder all the chaos in town".

-"Mooo Ba-chan why did you run like that all of a sudden, it's not good for your body to overexert yourself like that".

An adolescent girl quickly followed after the witch, petite in stature she had golden blond hair and sapphire blue eyes and looked pretty energetic as she complained while flapping her harm at high speed.

-"Don't talk to me like I'm some fossil Nina, I'm perfectly fine, if you intend to nurse me come back in a couple of century".

-"But ... but at least tell me where you are going, I was worried you know …"

The girl then looked at the pirates still dumbfounded at the unexpected scene like she just noticed them and suddenly ran up to them.

-"Whoa merman, it's the first time a see a real one, whoa merman are pretty big aren't they, whoa and this one has tentacle all over his mouth it's fun, whoa …"

The girl was running from a merman to another turning around them as she looked at each one, the mermen were embarrassed and didn't know how to react as Nina came back to the captain.

-"Neh neh you seem stronger than the other one, are you the chief? What is your name merman oni-san?"

-"Eh? Ah? What? "

Kayabaki was at loss of word for an instant and then as the question registered he suddenly took a pretty serious and proud look as he answered"

-"You're right little girl I am the boss of this fine pirates crew, the fearsome captain Kayabaki"

-"whoa so you are pirates, some pirates came here before but you look like no other and why did you come on this island captain oni-san?"

-"Oh this is simple, we are here to take this girl over here so that we could blackmail her father as a first step in my domination plan of all East Blue and …"

Realization suddenly draw upon Kayabaki as a sweat drop appeared on is left temple.

-"Wait a minute why the hell am I telling you about this you little brat, you tricked me to tell you about our secret plan you fox!"

Sweat drop where now multiplying on the forehead of townsfolk and merman alike and everyone shared the same thought.

"_You're the one who began talking about it"_

-"Eeeh that's mean I just wanted to know more about you but that's no good merman oni-san, you should do bad things like kidnapping and blackmail"

Nina was now pouting while looking at Kayabaki.

-"Shut up you fox, I'll show you what happen to those who try to trick me; I'll smash you here and now!"

Kayabaki joined is hand into a double punch and hammered it on Nina, there was a smashing sound and dust flew around as the merman's attack ripped the stone ground open but Nina was not here anymore, as Kayabaki attacked she jumped in a triple somersault like it was nothing and landed on the shoulder of another merman.

-"Hey that was dangerous and look at the mess you've made with the place ground, now you'll have to fix it to apologies, and stop calling me fox, I have a name, I'm Nina"

Yuri looked at Nina with great interest.

"_Impressive, she might look petite but her body is perfectly trained, the way she avoided this blow was out of this world. Not only this but she was able to tell the relative strength of the pirates and determine the leader in one sight. If she could cooperate with me we can work out something"_

She then switched her attention to the old woman who had done nothing but slightly laugh during all this time.

"_There is something about this old lady too, she is definitely stronger than she seems though and don't really know why I'm thinking this"_

-"Oye ell boy, what do you think you are doing insulting my cute granddaughter like that? If you don't watch your word I will have to teach you some manner"

"Shut the hell up you old hag I will …"

*whaaack*

The merman didn't have time to finish his sentence, in a flash the old woman had come right next to him and whacked her stick across his face before.

-"Show some respect to your elder ell boy"

Kayabaki was stunned for an instant and then began to head for the old woman with killing intent clearly showing on his face.

"_Time to get the situation back under control"_

-"Please wait a moment Baka Yaki-san, I believe you have business with me in the first place"

Yuri unsheathed her rapier and took a stance.

-"I shall be your opponent, I will show you how a true captain fight"

The merman looked at Yuri with a furious look but also a bit of amusement

-"Ahahah who's a captain here, it don't seem to me like you have any crew and you intend to fight with this toothpick? I don't know if I should stay angry or laugh, you human are pitiful"

Yuri answered with a smile

-"You will learn there are weapons far more sharp and deadly than blade of steel, as for my crew it is true I have not yet found worthy companions but it seem I'm not alone opposing you here

Yuri gave a look to the old woman.

-"Humph! It's not like I'm willing to help this town or to fight some pirates, it's none of my business … but there again if I allow them to do as they will it'll be troublesome later"

The old woman threw her stick in direction of the pirate crew and it was suddenly grabbed in flight by Nina who was still on the merman shoulder where she landed before

-"Tch there is no choice, Nina you help the miss here to take care of them! It'll be a good training for you to acquire some real battle experience"

Nina jumped off the shoulder of the confused merman and took a stance holding the stick in both hands like a sword.

-"Okay ba-chan, sorry everyone but I'll be your opponent, my name is Nina Simetra nice to meet you all"

-"Nina stop befriending your opponent before a fight and didn't I tell you already in this kind of situation you have to call me master"

Nina stuck her tongue a little and answered

-"Yes maassterr!"

Nina began to advance on her opponents, le merman were still completely confused about how the situation has turned.

-"Oi Oi little miss where pirates, the real thing you should go back home before you get hurt"

-"Ahahah yeah I don't know what the old hag is thinking but she should care about her granddaughter a little more"

-"No truly you should stop now brat, there is now way you can hurt us with this piece of wood …"

Nina ignored their mockery and put herself in position to strike, the stick hold with both and behind her back as if preparing for a full 360° swing.

-"Divine wind of blades ripping flesh from the bones"

As she said those words a breeze came out of around her.

"Itenryu, Kamaitachi!" (One heaven style, cutting wind)

With a single swing of her wooden blade Nina released the focused energy effectively creating a wave of pressure akin to a cutting wind, the blast sprung directly in the middle of the mermen before imploding with a *Boom* sending half a dozen of them flying in the air.

-"Wha .. What the hell was that?"

The mermen, shocked were still looking at the place the kamaitachi imploded quite not believing what they witnessed.

-"Oi you little brat what did you …"

*whack*

-"guworg!?!?"

The poor lad never got to finish his sentence, Nina had already sprinted to him and landed a direct hit to his face while he was still turning around sending him flying a few meter away.

-"That won't do, you should never turn your back to your opponent during a fight, that's what ba-ch… I mean master always told me".

The mermen stood frozen for a second before squid dude reacted.

-"Everyone get her, that's no normal brat be careful and do not hold back!"

-"Aye aye sir"

In the meantime Yuri and Kayabaki had started to fight, the merman was on a rampage using his brute force and some sort of karate to destroy everything in his way, Yuri was dodging every blow, using every advantage her environment could provide to hamper the merman's movement.

As the fight continued to expend the townsfolk had quickly ran away in order not to get caught in between, only the old woman was still on the place observing the battle like it was nothing and dodging here and there some flying object.

"_At this rate I'll exhaust myself before I get a chance to strike, but now the town's people have finally evacuated the place, it's time to put my plan in action"_

As she thought so Yuri glanced around a little more in search of sometime and then smiled as she found it but for a moment her concentration decreased and the merman managed to use this opening to get a hold of her leg.

-"Now I got you!"

-"Damned"

Kyabaki was now holding her high, upside down.

-"Hehe this time you won't be fleeing anywhere, it's time to put you to sleep, UNA GIGA …"

As Kayabaki prepared to release electricity Yuri quickly drew something from her sleeve and threw it on her left.

-"… CHOQUE!!!"

A flash of light and an electrical halo could be seen originating from Yuri but it didn't stop to her and followed some king of line on her left all the way to another merman who was shining with electricity as well.

-"Eh ? What th …"

*Stonk*

Yuri used here free leg to stomp on the face of Kayabaki. Considering she was wearing boots with some heel it must have been pretty painful and so the merman let go of her.

-"Damn bloody hell why are you still conscious???"

-"Oh, you didn't know? Electricity is most dangerous to those in contact with the ground so I just used this fishing wire I picked before to connect myself to one of your subordinate, thus he is the one who took most of the choc"

Kayabaki looked back at his crewmate who was indeed well fried, a little throwing dagger was stuck on his side and barely visible a metallic cable relying it to Yuri's hand.

-"You! How dare you do this to one of my men!"

-"Well technically you are the one who did it baka yaki-san"

-"I swear your father will barely recognize you once I'm finished dealing with you"

-"Enough with those meaningless menaces, in a fight only the result is important"

While Yuri and the merman captain began to fight again Nina was dealing with most of the crew by herself but she was not alone, some of the town's people regrouped and set up ambush for the mermen after luring them to follow into the town's narrowest streets and so Nina was left with about half of the crew to deal with now.

"_Tch, what's with this brat her strength is abnormal for such a puny human"_

Ikatama the first mate was wondering while looking at the girl's fight. Though he was also a fighter his first duty was intelligence gathering, thanks to his contact web he was able to determine the runaway child of the Delys house was staying at this small island for the time being. He even determined the best day to make an assault, when most of the patrols where away synchronizing with the return of the pirate Don Creek from the grand line which would certainly keep the marines attention away. Yet he didn't know there would be such a fighter in this town, this girl's technique were like nothing he heard of before.

"_But as long as her only weapon is this piece of wood she has no way to harm me"_

The squid merman then faced the girl who was beating yet again another of his crewmate with her kenjutsu.

-"This is as far as you go, I must admit I am impressed with your skill little girl but now you're facing this crew's first mate. Give up; you have no chance of victory"

-"Heee you are the first mate, that is cool you must be very strong!"

-"I see you understand my point, now will you throw your weapon and …"

-"If you are strong then this will become an even better training, so let's fight mister first mate"

With this Nina launched herself at the merman, charging full speed toward her opponent.

"_Humph, no need to worry, her staff will just slip on my skin and I'll have an opening" _

Nina's blow indeed slipped on the merman's skin but he was unable to take his chance for a counter as an unexpected pain filled him.

"_What, how come I've felt that one"_

-"Hheee, your pretty slippy mister first mate, I couldn't finish my attack right now"

-"What did you do you Witch, it's impossible for such an attack to hurt a body like mine, what kind of trick did you use?"

-"Eh that's mean, it's not a trick, it's called Haki, the force that comes from within, you don't know about it? I don't know anything about a merman body but since I imbued my attack with my Haki I can affect directly your internal strength"

"_Haki??? What the heck is that??? Wait I think I remember to heard something about that back on the merman's island but the people able to use it should be few in number, even more so in a place like East Blue. Grrr under what kind of bad luck star did this plan start to encounter such problem"_

-"Well since normal blow won't end it I guess I can try a tsuki (thrusting the sword)"

Nina took her stance, low on her feet, the stick in one hand a little behind her body but still pointing toward her target.

"Whatever the defense you have, I'll just pierce right through!"

Focusing her energy in her feet Nina sprang forward covering the distance in one leap and no time

"Itenryu, Koutetsu no Ookami!" (One heaven style, Iron wolf god)"

In a single powerful move she trusted her weapon at her opponent's chest adding all her weight and momentum to the attack. In face of such speed Ikatama couldn't even move and received a direct hit blowing him in the wall behind him. After the smoke dissipated the remaining mermen could see that their first mate was not moving anymore and blood dripped out of his mouth. At this moment light flashed and a huge explosion could be heard …

A few minute back in time Yuri is still fighting with the merman captain doing her best to avoid his assault but unable to attack herself.

-"What's happening little girl, is dodging all you can do? From the beginning you had no chance to win, there is no way a puny human could beat a merman! Give up now!"

Kayabaki kept showering Yuri with is ranting while fighting showing no sign of fatigue.

"_There this place is be the perfect setting"_

Yuri entered a building on the street and Kyabaki followed quickly after her in what seemed to be a watermill.

*snap!*

The merman heard the sound and looked up to see a big millstone falling upon him.

-"fucking holy shi …"

Jumping on the side he was able to avoid the stone which crashed on the floor with a loud *clang* which made him realize that the floor was metalic; the exit was now effectively sealed by the stone.

-"Too bad your little trap didn't work bitch, now you're trapped with me here, let see how well you can dodge now"

Yuri was looking down on the merman on the mezzanine from which she made the millstone fall.

-"This will indeed be more difficult here, well that is if you were able to see clearly"

She ripped open a bag lying at her feet and then pushed it downstairs. The bag's content spilled all over the place creating a big white cloud of dust.

-"Flour? What are you trying to do this time?"

More ripping sound were heard as Yuri kept on spilling flour.

-"Why, nothing much, I'm just making sure you will not be able to detect me here"

Soon the whole place was filled with white dust preventing the merman to see farther than arm reach.

-"Damn you and all your tricks, you think this will be enough to beat me?"

-"Well now I have all my time to play with you, will you be able to tell where the next blow will come from, where the next trap will wait for you?"

Yuri voice was now coming from somewhere downstairs but Kayabaki could not pinpoint her location.

-"Of course you are strong enough to break these tiny wall and go outside, fell free to flee anytime you want if you are scared"

-"DON'T FUCK WITH ME! Maybe I can't see you but you've made a mistake coming back on this floor, what is it that you used the other time?"

The merman put his hand on the floor.

"Oh right, a metal wire wasn't it? It's true that metal conduct electricity, UNA GIGA …"

_Now!_

There was a sound of breaking glasses and then one of an object falling in water.

-"… CHOQUE!"

A flash of light, a drum tearing sound and an explosion followed. Where the watermill stood a moment before there was now a big crater a pile of rubble and a cloud of smoke. Then from the river the watermill was next to a silhouette emerged. Yuri got out from the river and began to wring out the water of her hairs.

-"You didn't know Baka Yaki-san? When a lot of dust is gathered in a closed space, the slightest spark will create an explosion even if the dust is normally inoffensive"

She considered her soaked clothes and shrugged, then began walking toward the central place.

"I told you, the mind of a trained tactician is far more sharp and deadly than a blade, from the moment you followed me and let me set the pace, you were already checkmate"

… To be continued.

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I prefered to stop just after the fight conclusion, it's more dramatic and more importantly it let me some time to gather my thought on what should happen next.

Introducing the ever energic Nina and her granny "the witch" as you can guess she is this story's sword user. She is kind of a tommboy and happy go lucky character, as such you won't see her wearing a skirt or frilly clothes. Her sword style is called "itenryu", I was at loss for a good name so I took myamoto musashi's niten and cut down the heaven's number by half (iten = one heaven, niten = two heaven), it is mainly based on the use of the internal energy known as the haki in one piece.

Yuri here demonstrate her ability for the first time : she is not a devil fruit user or a overpowered martial artist or using some other weird power, no she is just using her brain analyzing the situation and getting any advantage she can from it. You could say she is in permanent brainpoint (if you don't see what I mean I wonder what you are doing in the one piece section). It's not flashy but it works pretty well.

As for the poor mermen who truly were here just for the two girl to demonstrate their power I'll add some comment :

-Kayabaki is a Japanese food name, it is a kind of eel barbecue so of course it fit perfectly an eel merman.

- Yuri keep calling Kayabaki as Baka Yaki, it's a pun made simply by rearanging the letter of Kayabaki and it litteraly mean "grilled idiot" in Japanese (she explained with it suit himherself).

-The squid merman's name Ikatama litteraly mean "Squid head" in Japanese.

- Kayabaki call his attack "una giga choque", I wanted to use the "una" article so I tried to make it sound spanish but I'm not sure if it is correct, the main point is that the word "unagi" which means eel in Japanese, appears in the attack name

This make quite the long author's note but I like to do this, the same way there is some page for this kind of stuff in a manga. The update was relatively quick this time because I still have idea on what will happen next but as my stock dries out it might be longer thereafter. By the way thanks to everyone who've read this far, I hope you had fun and I'll wait for you in the next chapter.


	3. fisrt nakama, first crisis

Hello every one, third chapter of TOHS's here, this time there is a lot f talking as we learn a little more about the characters. As usual thank to you who are reading my work, I hope you will like how it does turn out and don't hesitate to review if you have a comment.

Disclaimer: This fan work is not to sell, not to rent and not created to make any profit, One Piece universe and characters are all property of Eiichiro Oda and not mine

This is narration (3rd person)

-"this is dialogue"

_This is character thoughts_

*this is sound and onomatopoeia*

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

After the defeat of both their captain and first mate, the remaining merman lost their will to fight and quickly retreated with their ship. Not long after the marines finally arrived only to find the battle was over and a dozen of pirates abandoned by their fellow crewmate subdued and ready to be arrested. Of course amongst them was the captain Kayabaki in quite a bad shape after the mill's explosion.

-"You have done a great job here lady Delys, this pirates prime was not really high because they united recently but they would definitely have been trouble if we had left them alone. I am sure your father will praise you once we escorted you back home"

Yuri frowned at the marine's captain words

-"Oh, might there be something wrong with my hearing? For a moment you sounded like I would be willing to come back home"

-"But lady Delys, everyone is worried about you, your mother asked us to bring you back as soon as we found you, moreover you have seen for yourself a person of your rank is not safe traveling alone like this"

-"This should not be a problem, I am planning to get companion soon and I'll be heading for a place where the Delys name is far less known than in East Blue"

-"lady Delys you don't mean …"

-"This is exactly what I mean, I intend to quickly find a ship and set sail to Log Town and then the Grand Line"

-"But it's even more dangerous and your mother orders are clear …"

-"What is my father opinion?"

-"Eh? Ah well vice admiral Delys said we should let you do as your heart command but … "

-"Then the problem is no more, you will obey your superior order and let me do as I see fit"

-"But lady Delys …"

-"Enough, this conversation ends here, I have more urgent matter to attend to. Farwell Captain"

Yuri then left the marines captain before he could add anything else, she quickly walked along the town's street, some of them still devastated after the pirates attack. After some time she reached a small house in some desert backstreet. As she entered the building a small bell ringed drawing the attention of the owner. A small man probably in his fifties came from a backroom.

-"My my, if it isn't Miss Delys, you should have told me of your status before it would have made the negotiation easier"

-"This arrangement has nothing to do with my name, I earned all the money you received myself and own nothing to my father"

-"Oh, quite impressive. I wonder how you managed to earn such an amount"

-"I worked as a waitress"

The image of Yuri in a waitress uniform formed in the owner's mind and a small stream of blood began to flow from his nostril

-"You seem to be thinking something very inappropriate mister"

Yuri's cold stare brought the owner back to reality

-"Hum yes pardon me …"

"_No wonder she could raise such a sum, I bet the shop who has hired her is now rolling on bery"_

-"I hope today's incident won't have any influence on our previous deal"

-"You already paid in gold so my word is gold too and if it was not for you and the witch's girl we would never have beat those pirates"

-"Don't mention it, I was the reason they attacked in the first place so … By the way I would like to hear more about this so called witch"

-"What? About the witch??"

Yuri just stared intently seeing no need to restate her request

-"Well she has been here for quite some time now, it'll soon be sixteen years since she came here with the little Nina who was a baby at the time, she was already pretty old looking at the time though I don't know her age"

The owner took a cigarette holder from his pocket

-"You don't mind?"

-"Don't worry please continue"

After exhaling some smock the old man got back to his stories

-"Her situation was suspicious to begin with and she wouldn't talk about her story or who was the baby's parents. It should have been tough raising a child alone for an old woman so the mayor offered some help but she refused, she said she wouldn't accept any pity from us. Then she began working as a healer"

-"Healer, you mean she is a doctor?"

-"No no, she has some knowledge of the human body for sure but she is not a doctor, she is using some sort of strange power just lying her hand on someone she can heal or at least help to heal a lot of things"

-"This is pretty intriguing"

-"Yes for sure, but she refused to explain anything to anyone about it so the townsfolk began to be scared of her and her strange power. And then she went living in the forest saying she did not want us to interfere with her problem"

-"And so since then she lived here"

-"Yes, she come to town from time to time to buy some stuff but most of the time it's Nina who take care of this. Nina is really a good girl, she always has a carefree smile on her face but I think she is also pretty lonely, the kid from the town were afraid of the "witch's daughter" so she never had any friend"

-"I see, the commerce has developed here only since five years so it was a pretty isolated island, this kind of reaction was to be expected. So mister, would you please tell me how to get to this witch's home?"

-"Well yes, if that's what you want but I warn you the witch probably won't listen to anything you could say"

-"I'll see that for myself thanks"

Following the indication of the old man Yuri followed a road down to a little house standing by a lake in the middle of the forest. There was smoke coming out of the chimney so the witch was probably home. As Yuri was about to knock on the door a voice came from the inside.

-"Enter youngster, its open"

Yuri gladly obeyed the old woman and entered the house; the inside was simple with little furniture but still a decent house to live in.

-"I wondered when you would come youngster"

-"Oh, why were you sure I would come?"

-"I've seen it in your eyes, at that time when you observed Nina's movement you couldn't have hidden your interest with those eyes"

-"Well it is the truth so I won't deny, is Nina-san here? You probably can tell what I would like to discuss with her"

As she said so Nina came from the next room bringing three fuming tea cup with her.

-"Ah you truly came, as ba-chan told eeeto Yuri-san isn't it? You were truly amazing back here, you don't know to use haki and you don't have such a strong body but you manage to defeat this big guy, I wonder how you did"

Yuri accepted the offered tea cup and took a sip

-"Well it was nothing compared to the way you handled the rest of the crew, I came to ask something of you Nina-san"

-"You can call me Nina, Nina-san sound too weird, what do you want to ask me?"

-"Then Nina, would you join me in my journey?"

-"Jo … Join you in a journey?"

-"Yes I intend to travel the seas, I would like to have some "compagnon de voyage"

-"Companion dewouayage, what is this?"

-"I mean I want to find some friend to travel with, nakama who I could trust when facing the danger of the Grand Line"

The old woman intervened

-"Taking the sea with ship and friend to the Grand Line, whatever how nice it sound it is still a lot like you want to found a new pirate crew little girl"

-"I do not intend to enter piracy Miss, I just want to experience and see the world for myself, my goal is not rich or fame I just want to follow my heart freely, if anything I would call myself an adventurer"

-"You know the government won't make the distinction"

-"If the government happens to be in my way I shall face it, from the beginning I started this journey become I couldn't accept the way of the World Government"

The elder smiled

-"You have courage and you say good things, Nina I have trained you since you are little but there is thing one can't learn but by himself, to follow this young one or not the choice is yours but from now on I don't have any more to teach you"

Nina has been unusually silent for some time now

"You said you said you wanted friends to trust … then does it mean you want to be my friend"

"Of course, it is exactly what I mean"

Nina jumped of her chair, took Yuri's hand and making her stand she began turning round and round in the room.

-"Yay, it's the first time someone called me his friend, of course I want to follow her, I don't know what will happen but I am sure it will be really fun!"

-"Nina calm down you are indisposing our guest"

Nina stopped to whirlwind and looked at Yuri who had spiral instead of eyes

-"Ararararara …"

-"Woa sorry, sorry"

-It … it's nothing, I'm fine now, well Nina I'm glad to have you on my crew, I will have a boat ready to go by tomorrow so let's meet at the town's central place tomorrow morning"

-"Eh, you won't stay with us for the night?"

-"It would be a pleasure but I am sure your ba-chan has a lot to tell you before you go, well then have a good day"

After bowing politely Yuri left the place, Nina then turned back to her grandmother.

-"Ba-chan, is it really okay? You will be all alone if I leave"

-"What are you saying now it not like I am left on a dessert island, the people from this town are moron but they are fun to tease so I won't be bored. I can't keep you forever on this island; you are your mother's daughter after all"

-"Mama … eh ba-chan, you never told me about my mother, I don't know when we'll be able to meet again so …"

-"Yes I guess it is high time I tell you about your parent's story. I was born on an island situated on the Grand Line, it's called Amazon Lily and it is the kingdom of women and warrior. In this place every girl is trained in the way of combat since her youngest day …"

-"So that's why you taught me how to fight"

-"Yes, I wanted to raise you as a proud warrior of Amazon Lily and this is also want your mother wanted"

-"Then how come you left the island?"

-"It was not me, at least in the beginning. You have to know that men are strictly forbidden to set foot on this island and most of those who do are killed …"

-"Uwha this is though … eh wait a moment ba-chan you said children born on this island are all girl but women can't make a children alone …"

-"Yes, yes well this is linked to your father matter so I guess I'll explain that too, there is two way for the Amazon's women to meet men and eventually have children: first obviously every women do not stay on the island all her life, for training, trading, protecting the kingdom or any other reason it happen that some of us go on a journey and during this time get a child"

-"So is it what happened to Mama?"

-"Actually in your father's case it was the other way, I told you men are forbidden on the island so when one is found he is captured and then have to overcome the challenge of the arena to gain his freedom"

-"eh? What's this challenge thing?"

-"Men captured have to fight for their life in the arena, against monster, against warrior from the island or sometime in other form of contest but always deadly one"

-"And what if they win?"

-"Those who manage to prove their valor are set free and must leave the island but there is one condition: they must give a child to one of Amazon's women"

-"That's a weird deal"

-"Maybe for outsider but in Amazon Lily only the strong is acknowledged, this way of doing also unsure that the children are born from strong parents and so are in turn likely to be strong themselves"

-"So my papa won the contest? He must have been strong! "

The elder smirked

-"No, in fact your father was member of a pirate crew who lost their ship during a storm; he alone was washed ashore on Amazon Lily and thus captured. But even if he was a pirate your father was not a warrior, his dream was to become the world best blacksmith and forge a sword worthy to be counted amongst the saijou oowaza (supreme creation) which are only twelve in the world to this day"

-"Whoa, papa's dream was amazing"

-"Yes it was and he was truly a skillful blacksmith but this was not of any help if he wanted to survive the arena"

-"But then how?"

-"Even if he was not a warrior your father had a lot of courage, he pleaded to the empress to let him make a sword for her, if she was not satisfied with it then he would forfeit his life but if the sword was worthy of the empress he would be considered winner of the challenge. Your father worked during one year to the creation of this sword …"

-"One year just to make a single sword, it's awfully long!"

-"This was not just a sword, it was a masterpiece he was trying to created, any blacksmith can forge a sword in a few days or even less but it will just be a tool. When a craftsman wants to realize a true masterpiece he must put all his soul into it, one can search during decade for the right moment, this is something your father taught us during this year. Of course he was not free and watched all the time and one of the warrior assigned to this task was your mother Aurore"

Nina was now silently listening, captivated by her grandmother story.

-"She watched him create this sword day after day working relentlessly and passionately, for your father it was maybe his last creation, his last chance to created a sword to be counted amongst the best so he truly put everything he had, at this time your mother's heart was captured by this man and his passion. So after a year he finally finished his work and came the day to present the sword, even if it was not on the level of the legendary twelve supreme swords the blade was wonderful and the empress was subjugated, your father was declared winner and free to leave the island, as he was not a warrior it was decided he would not give a child to the kingdom his wonderful blades being a substitute for him since it was truly a part of himself"

-"But then how was I born?"

-"Well your mother heart already belonged to your father, she decided she would quit the island with him even if it meant she would not be able to come back"

-"Why wouldn't she?"

-"Men are forbidden in Amazon Lily so the concept of love is not well understood, moreover your father was still a non warrior man, even he was if a wonderful sword maker so nobody would acknowledge it"

-"But what if papa was already in love with someone else or if he rejected her"

-"I think your mother would still have done it but it happened your father too had fallen in love during this year. When the sword was handed to the empress she asked him to name it, your father then named the sword "Yoake no Kagayaku" (the dawn's brilliance), he named the sword after your mother. The empress understood the hidden meaning immediately, when I think back to her eyes at this very moment I think our empress had already fallen in love with the man too, that's why she didn't oppose to your mother's depart".

-"Then why did you leave the island too ba-chan?"

-"I did not leave the island at the time, I did not approved your mother choice so I tried to forget her, but as time passed it began clear to me that I couldn't and our empress too. Some years after your mother depart she felt ill and never recovered, she was literally dying from the love she could never express and on the day she passed on she called for me, she passed to me her last will to take the sword back to your father, she used it when she was still able to and the blade had been recognized as the twenty-first of the oowaza mono (great achievement), her last wish was for your father to learn that he had achieved a step to his dream"

-"Then you searched for Papa and Mama?"

-"Yes and it was not easy, they were traveling on the five sea as your father continued his quest and when I finally caught their trail I learned they had been caught in an incident with the world government. I said it before the government make no distinction between pirates and simple adventurer if they stand in their way, a whole island was exterminated and your father and mother with it, you was still a baby at the time, not even one year old so you had been left in the care of a nurse when your father and mother were in expedition. This is where I found you and this is when I decided to raise you"

-"Destroying a whole island! It's terrible why would they do this …

-"The world government has many reason to do what they do but there is really few that I consider myself good reason"

- "But when I think about it, why didn't you came back to Amazon? You could have raised me here"

-"I told you the child of a forbidden love would not be acknowledged and also … In the end I was unable to fulfill my duty to the dead empress and unable to meet your mother again and ask for her pardon, I could not come back to the Amazon kingdom … I still can't"

-"Ba-chan …"

The elder looked gloomy for some moment then clapped her hand together.

"This is enough remembrance for today, tomorrow you will begin your own story but I have something to give you before that"

She went to the attic and searched for a moment then came back with a long wooden box.

-"Ba-chan is that …"

-"Yes, this is the sword your father gave is all to make during one year, the sword that own her name to your mother"

She opened the box and a katana appeared, sixty-four centimeter long sheathed in a dark blue scabbard.

-"Draw it!"

Nina drew the sword as she was said and for a moment it was like all the light in the room where reflected and concentrated in the blade, the luminous blade going out of the night colored scabbard was like the dawn of a new day, then it stopped and the blade showed her metallic coloration with blue reflect in the color of a clear day's sky. Some tears began to flow from Nina's eyes.

-"I don't know why, when I look in this blade I like I can see Mama smiling to me"

-"This sword hold a part of your mother and father, take it with you and they will be able to watch your journey across the world"

-"Yes, thank you ba-chan, thank you …"

Nina spent the rest of the day crying and laughing with her grandmother remembering all sort of things from those sixteen years they lived together. Soon enough tomorrow was here and Nina meet Yuri at the town's central place.

-"A nice day to you Nina, elder-san, I see you received quite the parting gift here. So have you made up your mind?"

Nina looked at Yuri, her resolution showing in her sapphire eyes.

-"Yes, I'll go with you on this journey, to write my own story and to search for my father's creation!"

-"I see you are prepared then, I have a ship ready to go at the port, it's rather small but I couldn't afford much more with my economy alone, the good point is it should be maneuverable with only the two of us"

At the port a great number of citizens had assembled to bid farewell to the two girls who had saved the town the day before. Nina held her grandmother a last time in her harm before joining Yuri on the boat. At the same time the marine's captain was issuing order on his own vessel.

-"Lady Delys has departed, prepare to follow her, if can't bring her back to her home her mother promised we would all be court-martialed!"

-"Captain, it's impossible! Someone has sabotaged the helm!"

-"what?"

-"Sir the cook is reporting than our Clearwater supply has been drained dry!

-"what?"

-"Sir we found this letter on the bridge, it is addressed to you"

-"Let me see that!!!"

"_Dear captain, it really pains me to do this but knowing my mother she must have promised you a terrible fate if you did not bring me back however I don't want to be followed by the marines wherever I go. The reparation and resupplying of your ship will take enough time for us to get out of your reach. Please do not worry too much about my mother's threats, my father would not let act as she wish with military matter. I hope you won't hold any grudge and I hope to meet you again under better circumstance. _

_Yours truly Yuri Lily Delys"_

-"What do we do sir?"

-"What can we do? We just get the reparation done shape and we head back to headquarter. We must report to vice admiral Delys immediately and hope he will be able to calm his wife … truly I fell like we have not ended to hear about this girl"

Back on the girl's boat Yuri and Nina are talking while the former is managing the helm.

-"So Nina, I do not want to be indiscreet but what are those "creations of your father" you mentioned before"

-"My father was a sword maker, this sword was made by him inspired by my mother"

Nina showed yoake no kagayaku.

-"When I look into the blade I can see my mother so I thought if I could find my father's other swords maybe I would be able to see the numerous things that inspired him in his journey to create a supreme blade. That way I would know a little more about my father"

-"This is indeed a wonderful resolution, I couldn't expect less from my first nakama"

-"Nakama … when you say it, it fell really like a wonderful thing"

Nina smiled and got back to helping Yuri maneuvering the ship, not a simple task for only two people but the sea was calm and this road quite secure. But later in the evening the two friends were faced with their fist crisis.

-"How could I forgot something this important?"

Yuri and Nina where in the ship's kitchen contemplating a series of ingredients.

-"Ahahaha h I didn't thought about that too, Yuri don't know how to cook?"

-"I can prepare some basic meal but I was never taught properly, well truth being said I skipped those lesson to read strategic book in my father office, what about you Nina?"

-"Ba-chan tried to taught me one time but after she tasted my cooking she told me I should concentrate on the kenjutsu for the time being"

The two girl sweat dropped in unison.

"This is no small matter, if we are to enter the Grand Line we definitely need someone with a minimal cooking skill, this set our next course of action! We shall seek for a cook in all the towns we will pass by!"

A loud gurgling sound was heard and Yuri's cheek became reddish.

-"But for now I guess with should restore ourselves with whatever few thing I can manage"

… To be continued.

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I am sure Luffy would agree, food problem are truly the biggest crisis on can face ^^. Considering it is traditionally the girls who are thought to be good at cooking I wanted to inverse the tendency here but when I think about it did we ever see Nami and Robin cook? I had some ideas about Nina's past from the beginning but in the end it turned out better than I expected, I loved the manga when Luffy goes to Amazon Lily so I wanted to include it in my fics and if Nina's grandmother seem far more knowledgeable and less naive than the women in the manga it's because she's been out in the world for a long time.

About Nina's katana I had a hard time finding a name for it but then I thought to link it with her mother name and it came naturally (Aurore and Yoake both means dawn in French and Japanese respectively. We don't have the list of the famous meito so I thought it was okay if I included it in the 21 oowaza mono (hell zoro already have two and he doesn't have exclusivity right).

For the ship Yuri bought with her part time job saving (I loved the waitress idea) it should be about the same category as the Merry go, maybe a little more small. Might seem impossible to buy a ship with just a waitress pay but well, she did attract lots of customers and her father is supporting her from the backstage, even if she wouldn't like it at all if she knew. The boat does not bear a back flag, after all she never claimed to be a pirate, but a big blue "fleur de lys" is covering the main sail (If you don't know the form try looking at the old France kingdom flag).

Speaking of Yuri you can see in the letter to the marine's captain that I gave her a middle name so its Yuri L. Delys to stay in the tradition of the main character with a letter in between name and surname. Why Lily and not something beginning with D? Well because the D is too common nowadays and because Lily has the same meaning as Yuri and Lys.

Thank to all readers and reviewers, in the next chapter we will follow the two heroines in their quest for a cook so look forward to it.


	4. Empty handed fight

Hello, it's me again, here's the fourth chapter of TOHS, I took me more time to write as inspiration was fleeing me, plus I had some very busy weeks lately. Anyways I hope you'll like it, thank to those who take the time to read this and don't hesitate to review.

Disclaimer: This fan work is not to sell, not to rent and not created to make any profit, One Piece universe and characters are all property of Eiichiro Oda and not mine

This is narration (3rd person)

-"this is dialogue"

_This is character's thoughts_

*this is sound and onomatopoeia*

WARNING: this fanfiction is written in the European format so you are here at the FIRST page

Enjoy

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

There is a place in East Blue where you can find nearly anything you can wish for if you know how to search and of course if you have enough money, this island once had another name but now it is known by the name of the organization which established itself here: Big Bazaar. The entire island is like a huge market, goods from the five seas can be found and this include a number of exotic object from the Grand Line, but the big market has two face: in the light appears only honest merchant and company but in the shadow is the black market where you can find law forbidden products, taboo item, stolen stuff and all sort of suspicious things.

At the head of the organization is Gilmano, a retired pirate and an excellent businessman, after seeing the wonder of the Grand Line he decided to come back to is natal island and make profit of it and in the time of 10 years he achieved to get a considerable amount of influence. This influence, the profit his organization generate and his keen sense of honor had led the world government not to interfere with Big Bazaar's business which is why it also became a haven for the pirates of East Blue.

Now let's come back to Yuri and Nina who are now sailing in direction of this Big Bazaar.

-"Neh Yuri, you said we are going to a big market like place but I don't think they're selling a cook at the market"

Yuri sweatdropped a bit

-"We are not going here to buy a cook, there is an item I must obtain before we can enter the Grand Line and this is probably the only place where we can find it apart from a marine base. Well there is also a lot of rare ingredient and condiment sold here so I wouldn't be surprised to find a cook; maybe we can kill two birds in one stone"

-"Well I don't know about stones but isn't it easy to kill two bird with only one strike? I think I could manage five"

More sweatdrop

-"Well this was not what I meant but anyway. Here I can see the the Island, we should arrive soon"

After berthing the ship to the dock the girls were now walking in the town street.

-"Waaah there is so much people here, it's the first time I see so much people and there is shop everywhere"

Nina was like a child in a sweetshop looking all around with an amazed look on her face.

-"Well it's your first time out of Koliru so I guess it's natural for you to be impressed but please do not wander by yourself the place is big and you could get lost; moreover this town has it's hidden face, going to the wrong place could get you in trouble"

-"Is that so? Well don't worry I'll stay close; by the way what is inside this box you are carrying?"

-"I told you we came here to obtain a certain item, I spent most of my money on the ship and supply for the journey so I took this as a bargain chip"

-"So it's precious, what is it? What is it?"

-"I would rather not speak of it in the open, you never know who is listening to your conversation in this town's streets"

The both of them kept going until they reached a building bearing the sign of a spice shop.

-"Welcome to Karai no Kyoukai (the spice association), what kind of spice are you searching in this place; ladies?"

-"Greetings, I am searching for some familial curry; I wonder if you would happen to have some?"

The owner's eyes sharpened for an instant.

-"I see that you are true connoisseur, if you'll please follow me. I will lead you to the place"

Nina and Yuri followed the man to a dark backroom with no windows lighted by some candle where three more men were waiting. One of them stood up as he saw Yuri entering the room.

-"Miss Yuri, it's a pleasure to see you again, if you are back then I guess you completed your part of the deal"

-"Mister Ralf, the pleasure is mine, it is as you said I have the item you wished for, it is in this box"

Yuri put the box on the table and the man named Ralf quickly opened it. Inside was something round shaped, wrapped in some cloths; Ralf got rid of the cloths what looked like some weird fruit appeared.

-"Indeed this is a devil fruit, no mistake about it. Do you know what kind of abilities it gives?"

-"No, unfortunately document on the subject are quite rare and the only other way to know what power it would bestow on its beneficiary would be to eat it"

-"Well it does not matter much, not knowing which it is could even give it greater value than if it was known to give some lame power"

-"Now do you have what the item I wish for?"

-"It is being recovered as we speak but before this there is a little something …"

Yuri frowned

-"This was not included in the arrangement, you were to give me the object without further demand"

-"No no it is not a demand, it is just a request. The boss asked to see you personally before you leave the island but if you don't wish so we will give you the object and let you go as it was planned initially"

-"And what business does Mister Gilmano have with me?"

-"This I don't know miss, I was just told to give you the invitation"

_What a bother, if he asked for me personally then he must have learned of my identity, I do not wish to extend my staying here but I guess it would be rude not to meet with him._

-"Very well, where shall I meet him? If it is to your headquarter I can go there by myself"

-"You seem to know a lot about us miss but the boss preferred a more simple place, follow me I will lead you there"

Once again the girls walked down the streets, following the man.

-"eh Yuri, this fruit thing, is it one of those which give crazy power when you eat them?"

-"Indeed it is, I have had this one since a long time, it kind of a souvenir so I was a bit reluctant to use it in a trade but I had no choice"

-"But you didn't thought about eating it yourself?"

-"Heavens no! First I don't know what kind of power it yield; second even though it give you power it also give you a great weakness and I certainly want to keep the ability to swim in the sea and last this kind of showy power doesn't suite me at all"

-"Well I guess it's true. I wouldn't want to eat one myself"

The trio finally arrived to some mansion and Nina said she would wait in the garden while Yuri was promptly led to spacious salon. Here a man was standing, quite tall with blond hairs and oddly red eyes he was wearing a white suite. Once Ralf left he began speaking.

-"Long time no see Lady Delys the last time we meet you were still a little brat but you have grown into quite the elegant woman since then"

-"Long time no see indeed mister Gilmano, I wanted to avoid disturbing such a busy man as yourself but I guess it is no use trying to hide something from you on this island"

-"Ahahah well of course, it is my island after all. How is your father doing, I have not seen him in age but I guess a vice-admiral should not be seen with a notorious gangster"

-"You know that my father don't care about such trifle detail, he still talk of you as a friend, whatever the rest of marines might think of it. But I guess this is why lately he has been particularly busy with the demand from the top; they wish to keep him on a short leash"

-"Ah, it's no wonder, with the way he is the top brass must see him as a real problem even if he is one of them. Aside from Garp there is probably no other officer that can irritate them as much"

-"As much as I would love to continue this pleasant conversation with you I have other appointments, did you call me only to talk about my father mister Gilmano?"

-"Well in fact that's about right, the thing you asked for was not ready yet and I wanted to see how much you have changed since the last time. But I guess they should already be back with the item, I wonder what delayed them"

At this moment a man irrupted in the salon.

-"Boss, the men are back but we have a problem …"

-"I hope the problem is important enough to justify your rudeness Marco"

-"Ah I … my apologies boss but it's the men were attacked on their way back, some of them are in bad shape and the goods were all stolen"

-"This is indeed a problem, I guess it was the Maru's family again"

-"Y … Yes boss, they set up an ambush, our men couldn't do anything"

-"Tch, always trying to mess up with our business. It's high time we teach this punk a lesson, tell Lionel to get to work immediately"

-"Yes boss!"

The man went back the way he came.

-"Some territory's dispute?"

-"You can call it that way but it has gone out of control, I'm really sorry, you'll have to wait until we get back your item"

-"I don't think so, it I mine by right so I think I will take it back myself"

Gilmano paused for an instant before laughing.

-"You truly are is daughter, I guess it's no use trying to stop you from doing it, follow me to the basement we will give you a hand"

Yuri followed the man to a room in the basement, it was packed with all king of paper and men were going in and out giving report every thirty second or so, there was also a bunch of denden-mushi giving off their "puru puru puru puru" regularly.

-"This is one of our information central, from this kind of room with relay data coming from every informer, mole, spy and ally we have on the island, so what do we have Lionel?"

The man named Lionel got is eyes off some report before answering.

-"Yes boss, this attack could have been prevented with the information we had but there was some traitors in the rank. Their punishment is already being conducted and for the reinforcement of security we advise …"

-"Enough Lionel this matter is of little interest right now, did you locate the goods they took from us?"

-"Yes boss, its a little house build atop a cliff giving directly on the sea in the west part of the city"

-"If it was so simple I'd be happy but I doubt they would hide in a little house with no escape way, so what's the trick"

-"The place is indeed small but the basement form a big complex running deep under the house all the way to sea level. There is a big marine cave here and it's probably where they've been hidden their ship all this time, if it weren't for this incident we would never had found it"

Yuri was looking at the map spread over the table.

-"Is this the place?"

-"Yes it's an old map of the place but it's old, they must have done a lot of modification since then otherwise it would not being usable as a base"

Gilmano gave a look at the map.

-"Indeed, at the beginning it was just a secret passage to escape the house, those who build it probably didn't even know about the cave"

Yuri indicated a place on the map.

-"But look at this, here the passage connected to the sewer, it's hard to notice from the inside so whatever the modification they've done I think this place was left untouched. If we assume they built their hideout with the cave as the core this part is quite far from the main activity, the security must be looser here"

-"The perfect spot for an infiltration, but with this only a limited number can go"

-"If mister Gilmano can keep their attention occupied somewhere else, Nina and myself should be quite enough for the infiltration team"

-"Well it's pointless trying to stop you so it's fine with me, I'll send my men bugging Maru's gang it should keep their head diverted for a while"

-"Then it's perfect, I will inform my friend of the plan and we shall proceed immediately"

Yuri told Nina about the situation and the two of them directly headed for the hideout. Approximately one block before they got there Yuri decided to go down the sewer for the last part, Lionel provided them with a map indicating the way, even if it was not the most direct way. Indeed if Gilmano was the master of the island in the surface his power did not reach in the darkness of the sewer, here territory were divided and fought over by multiple gang of pariah hiding for one reason or another from the surface world. Thus information on the sewer was hard to get and the path chosen by Lionel was not the shortest but the safest he could think of.

-"Don't forget this is an infiltration Nina, if possible I would rather avoid getting into a fight inside the enemy's lair "

-"Yes I know, I know, discretion is the priority for now. But how will we find what you want to take? You said the map was not complete so we don't know where it is right?"

-"I guess we don't have choice, we will search the place until we found it"

-"Then if we separate we can find it more quickly!"

-"And then we would not know about each other where about. No we should stay together "

"Yeah I guess it's quite a good plan like that"

There was a second of silence which seemed to last an eternity after this last sentence. Because the voice which stated those words was definitely not Yuri's nor Nina's voice, it was a man's voice, a man who was now just behind the girls. Nina's reflexes then kicked in reacting to the sudden apparition in her maai (perimeter) of someone she was completely unaware of a second ago: she suddenly pivoted on herself unsheathed her sword and slashed behind her in one fluid move.

-"Woaahh!"

The man was taken by surprise but his reflex were prodigious, he bend himself backward until his hand touched the ground assuming a human bridge posture and managed to avoid being beheaded by doing so.

-"Ah …"

Nina's eyes had the color of cold blue steel for a moment before shifting back to the usual sapphire blue, she seemed surprised herself at her reaction.

-"Oï! What's wrong with you girl?!? Maybe I am partially at fault for surprising you but there is limit to overreacting"

A thin trail of blood was coming down the man's nose and there was a slight cut right between his eyes, if he had been just an instant slower in his reaction he would have lost at least his sight.

-"Ah … alalala! I am Sorry, but you shouldn't sneak behind people like take oji-san, I am not used to people I am unable to detect popping out of the blue behind me like that!"

-"That's why I say it's over overreacting! … Rather why do you call me oji-san I am still 22 oi!"

-"But you have a felling like you're one of those older people and anyway 22 is already old for a 16 years old girl"

Yuri was a bit lost since the sudden apparition of the man but thanks to Nina's word she got back into action.

-"Hum wouldn't that make me an oba-san Nina?"

-"Eh no way, Yuri can't be that old already!"

-"I am 20 which is not that far from this good sir's age"

The good sir in question ticked at the remark

-"Oi Oi, aren't lady a bit more discreet about their age normally?"

-"I do not hold my age as an important matter so I can freely talk of it, anyway this has gone off-track long enough, may I inquire who you are and what are you doing here sir, depending on your answer I might have my friend finish what she began earlier"

-"Wow hold your horse here, I am just some mercenary and I am here on a mission. I came across you two intersection before and as we seemed to be headed the same way I figured I'd better make my presence known before we got there to avoid any interference in our respective duty"

-"I guess it make sense, you could have sneak attacked us before but you didn't and considering your look you are not a resident of this place … I suppose we can believe you as long as you do not get in our way"

-"That is pretty felicitous, I am Zack Sturmfalken, I've been hired to save an hostage the maru's gang hold in their hideout so I propose we help each other searching the whole place"

-"I am Yuri Delys, I will gladly accept your help as long as prove worthy of my thrust"

-"I am Nina Simetra, sorry to have cut your face Zack oji-san"

-"Please stop with this oji-san thing I fell like some old fossil when you say that"

-"Yes please Nina, I fell rather bad about it too"

-"Ehhh but he seems fun to tease"

And so the three of them continued to advance until they reached the hideout. There they began to search the place while doing all they could not to be detected, Zack had already proven his capacity in discretion and Yuri could be quite stealthy when need was, only Nina was not at ease with this kind of things and had to make some guard about her by knocking them out a couple of time.

-"This is it, considering the information we gathered from the guards, the room we already visited and the hint of this outdated map I am almost certain about the hostage location and I have a good idea of where the item I seek should be"

Yuri pointed some places on the map she was completing since they entered the hideout. Zack looked at her with somewhat dubious eyes.

-"with so little info you can tell?"

-"Of course it is not 100% certain but with what we learned so far those room are the highest probability for the hostage"

-"And your own stuff?"

-"We are dealing with an association more akin to gangster than pirates here, as long as Gilmano don't produced some proof that the Maru's gang did the attacked he cannot accuse them without losing face but for the same reason the Maru's cannot sell the stolen object on this island, it would be admitting they did done it"

-"That's true Yuri-ne but it doesn't help finding where it is"

-"Au contraire Nina, because Gilmano is putting pressure upon them right now, they probably want to get rid of the goods as fast as possible and the man before certainly said that they had to hurry with the ship preparation"

-"So it is probably transported on the ship if it is not already here… felicitous. I am impressed lady; I won't doubt your conclusion anymore"

-"Yep that's Yuri-nee for you!"

-"Nina-san, for what reason did you suddenly changed the way you address to me?"

-"Well because I thought we were the same age but Yuri is 20 already so I felt like I have an older sister now"

Nina smiled genuinely while Yuri seemed a bit tired.

-"Sometimes your way of thinking is beyond me but if it can make you happy address to me as you like"

-"Well this is good and all but now that I know where to search I must proceed with the rescue ASAP, and you'd probably better hurry to the dock before the ship set sail so I guess we part here girls"

-"You are right, maybe we will see each other after all of this is finished mister Sturmfalken"

-"Call me Zack, well I certainly wouldn't refuse to have a drink with two beautiful ladies"

Zack looked in Nina's direction.

-"Well let's say one beautiful lady and a brat"

-"Hey what was that for?!?"

Zack answered with a grin.

-"Revenge for the oji-san stuff"

Nina pouted a bit then looked at Zack with curious eyes.

-"Hey you'll be okay like that? I know your good at hide and seek but if you must rescue the hostage don't you need a weapon or something?"

-"Don't worry, I always go to the battle empty handed"

With those words Zack began to move and was soon out of sight.

-"Don't worry Nina; nobody would come here moreover by the sewer without some mean of defenses. Being unarmed is different from being armless he could be a devil fruit user or simply a master of unarmed martial art"

-"Well of course I know that much but his hands …"

-"I couldn't then see in those dark corridors and rooms, what is the matter with his hand?"

-"They were callous like he used swords a lot"

-"Well this is strange indeed but we don't have the time for this right now. As Zack-san said we must reach the dock quickly"

With this Nina and Yuri hurried along the corridor in direction of the dock. In the meantime Zack had reached the first room to check and fortunately it was the good one, unfortunately the girl was not alone in there.

_Well with the door left without any guard I pretty much knew this was gonna happens._

The room was rather large, empty except for some box and barrel in the back. Sitting on the floor her back against one of the box was the girl, she was probably only 10 and was gagged and restrained with ropes. She was looking terrified which was understandable since a man was standing in front of her aiming a pistol in her direction. Beside this man four more henchmen were present in the room, all armed with cutlass.

The man with the pistol looked at Zack and started to talk.

-"So it's you the dog they sent to get the brat back, we've been waiting for you but I didn't expect you would manage to get this far"

-"Why thanks, it's not like it was a walk in the park either, you were pretty good too for setting my up like that. How did you know I was coming?"

The man laughed heartily.

-"Man that Lorel is stupid he make arrangement to pay the ransom and then try to catch us at the meeting point, anyone could smell it was fishy from the start so as soon as the boys came back from the trap I've put the girl under tight watch"

-"I see, I'll have to ask compensation fee for that"

-"But you're quite something to get past my men like that, if I didn't get the report some of the guard were missing I wouldn't have guessed you were already in the place"

_Damn Nina, thanks to you I have supplementary workload._

-"I guess your some kinda mercenary eh? It would be a waste to kill someone with such skills, what do you say? Forget this fucking merchant and work for us; you'll get twice as much money with twice as less risk!"

-"When you say it like this it sure seems like felicitous conditions but well, it's my policy to get a job done once I accepted it so I'll have to refuse your proposition"

The man's smile disappeared.

-"So that's how it is, truly regrettable but is it really something a man who leap right into a trap without even a weapon should say? Oï boys get me ride of this fucking dimwit!!!"

The four men who were waiting eagerly for their chief's order dashed as one to attack Zack. In the following melee it was impossible to say exactly what happened but the sound of metal clashing against metal was heard and a few second later the four men were lying on the floor with Zack standing in the middle of them, two bloody short swords in hand.

-"Hidden blades, is it? I expected that much of a pro; of course you would come here unarmed"

The man didn't move from near the hostage still pointing its pistol at her.

-"Man it's a shame but I gotta teach all those stupid merchants what it cost to try double-crossing me. I am sorry brat but blame your father for not listening to my orders"

*PANG!!!*

As Zack was facing this situation Yuri and Nina arrived on the dock. It was time for discretion no more and they had forced their way to the place so they weren't exactly unexpected.

-"It's them!!! The two furies are here!!! Hurry with the ship depart, regroup the remaining men and encircle them! They had the advantage in the corridor by here we can overwhelm them with numbers!!!"

The cave was indeed a large one and could probably fit a marine warship, there was at least 50 men assembling to intercept the two girls and at the same time the ship at the dock started to move.

_My my, I guess some people in this gang has a working brain. This is worrisome but the priority is to avoid the item getting away._

-"Nina-san would you please stop this vessel. We cannot afford to see it set sail right now"

-"All right! Leave it to me Yuri-nee!"

Nina dashed directly toward the ship ignoring completely the bunch of thug facing her. The said thugs were rather surprised by this course of action.

-"Oï people don't charge head on into a fifty men squad normally, is there something wrong with her?"

-"Fucking doesn't matter; just get ready to down her and no holding back! This girl already got fourteen of our men this is no common brat"

The men prepared themselves but as Nina was about to enter their reach she leaped over them, or rather it would be more accurate to say she seemed propelled by something as her jump brought her five meter up heading for a direct hit course with the ship at least twenty meters away.

-"Wha …"

The thug were astonished, jaws dropping and eyes out of their socks. As Nina flew through the air some little white thing were left in her path, dissipating in a few second. Nina finished her course right onto the ship's deck.

"Itenryu ninotachi, akugin no datenshi!!!" (One heaven style second move, platinum fallen angel)"

Upon falling down Nina used the momentum and weight of the fall to deliver a powerful slash which left a white glow in its path. The glow dissipated into multiple little white particles and for an instant Nina seemed to be in the middle whirling white father.

*Crack*

Then the main mast began to fall properly cut in two at its base by Nina's slash. The thugs were completely taken aback and the whole situation could have gone getting into a panic but …

-"Get a hold of yourselves Boys, don't let this monster get off the ship alive, don't mind the mast we just need the ship out of there for now, we'll think about reparation later! And get the other one; she's the weakest one doesn't let her aboard too!"

The men looked back at Yuri but she was in front of them no more.

-"what the hell? Where's this one gone?"

-"Looking for someone gentlemen?"

Taking advantage of the pirate's attention being caught by Nina's impossible moves Yuri had gone past the squad and was now standing in top of two unconscious thug rights beside a canon.

-"I praise your dedication, you even prepared artillery in order to stop us"

Yuri push the barrel with her foot, the canon rotated on its wheels and was now facing the ship.

-"There again to turn one's force against oneself is a basic battle strategy"

She was now lighting a matchstick and the man who's been giving order all along swallowed difficultly.

-"Oï wait don't …"

-"What a shame we are long past the time for negotiation"

Yuri ignited the canon fuse, during a second which seemed to last for an eternity the fuse happily gave some spark and then …

*KABOOM!*

The canon fired and scored a direct hit to the ship's rear. The shot had been carefully aimed though and there was no sever breach that could sink the ship but …

-"Chief, the helm doesn't respond anymore! I can't control the ship's course!!!"

As the smock dissipated the result appeared clearly: the rudder had been ripped off the ship and unable to keep going straight it crashed unto the dock with a loud noise of breaking wood.

-"You bitch I swear you'll pay that, don't think you can get away it's fifty against one now!"

Yuri calmly drew her rapier.

-"This would hold true if you had me cornered but if I can help it this will be more like one on one fifty times"

-"And I think you forgot someone in your addition, there is two of us"

Surprised the man turned back to see that Nina was back from the crashed ship, the fifty men immediately lost their spirit.

-"Well I guess with Nina's help we can wipe you out in one swing"

The man was looking quite desperate now.

-"Pray to whatever you believe in, it might get a little easier on you"

*PANG!!!*

Without even turning to her the man shot the hostage in the head.

-"Sorry about that man, I guess your employer will want his money back"

Zack smiled at the man's word.

-"I only get paid once the job is complete; this is also part of my policy, beside …"

Suddenly the man realized that a little girl was running at Zack.

"Huh???"

The girl reached Zack and hid herself behind his legs.

-"… beside I didn't fail this job yet"

The man quickly turned around looking where the hostage was supposed to be but there what only cut ropes left and tuck into the ground two swords which were of course the reason why the ropes restraining the girl had been cut.

-"When on earth did you …woahhh!"

The man didn't finish his sentence; he had to step on the side in the middle of turning back at Zack again.

*swoosh!*

One of the short swords Zack had thrown missed completely.

*clang!*

-"Argh!"

The other one hit the pistol, sending it flying out of the man's grasp.

-"Gah … well tried but now you've got no weapon left idiot"

The man drew his saber but Zack didn't fall back, on the contrary he launched himself at the man, his hand looking like they were still holding the swords handle.

-"Die fucking bastard!"

The man slashed at Zack.

*kashing!*

To find his saber blocked by two crossed blades.

-"What?"

It happened in the blink of an eyes, Zack moved as if to parry the blow with his imaginary swords and following instant swords were indeed in his hands! Zack didn't draw them from somewhere; they just appeared in his hand out of thin air.

-"Hidden blades you said earlier? You don't know how much you were right and you can't phantom how many blades I keep hidden within myself!"

*slash*

The man didn't even react has Zack pushed back his weapon before cutting him down.

"Bastard… so you are… a devil fruit user… Gurl"

The man felt down to the ground coughing blood.

Zack got back to the girl; in his hand the swords had disappeared as mysteriously as they had appeared the thrown short swords and tucked one too were nowhere to be seen.

-"I told you not look little girl"

The girl was terrified and couldn't detach her gaze from the man's corpse and suddenly she passed out.

-"Guess it was too much for you, don't worry the next time you wake up you'll be back home with your father"

Zack then took the girl on his shoulder and began to make his way out of there.

On the meantime Yuri and Nina had managed to retrieve the thing Yuri was looking for and pull back, leaving heavy casualties on the pirate's side. They ran into Zack on their way out and the three of them accorded to meet up at Gilmano's mansion once Zack had delivered the girl back to her father and so later on this night.

-"So that how it happened, I guess you were lucky to meet such an ally, this man is beginning to have quite a reputation as a mercenary around here"

Gilmano was happily commenting the event Yuri reported him. Nina took a good look at Zack.

-"Now that I can see you better it's true that you don't look that old"

Zack was indeed a fine looking man, a little less than 1m80 in height his brown rather long for a man were going down to his shoulder and he had matching brown eyes, he was wearing black pants, T shirt and boots and though he didn't had it in the sewer and had now taken it off he wore a black leather coat when he arrived at the mansion. If anything the denomination oji-san (old man) didn't not fit him at all.

-"That's pretty strange, you give off a felling completely different of what you look"

Gilmano put his hand on Nina's shoulder.

-"This, my girl is usually the sign of someone who's been through a lot of hardship. When you are faced with the truth of this world at a young age you are forced to mature more quickly. Am I Wrong Zack?"

-"I won't deny it but it's a part of my past I do not want to discuss, Please do not push on the subject"

-"Well anyway let's forget the complicated stuff and have fun"

Nina got up to dance with some of Gilmano's men, with two lieutenant dead or incapacitated, their base all messed up and their flagship out of order the blow dealt at the Maru's gang was a sever one and the whole mansion was celebrating it.

-"By the way, what was that thing you absolutely wanted to get back?"

Zack was now talking with Yuri.

-"You were a great help to us Zack-san so I guess I can show it to you"

Yuri produced a small package and then proceeded to open it.

-"That's …"

Now on the table a little object looking like some kind of wristwatch was revealed.

-"… a Logpose!"

Zack sounded really interested by it.

-"Does this mean you're planning to enter the Grand Line?"

-"It is indeed my intention, are you interested"

-"Ahahahah … how felicitous, if I am interested? I was waiting for such an occasion. You know originally I was born on the Grand Line, a lot happened and I was forced to quit my home Island but I always wanted to go back there"

-"Is that so? Then would you join my crew, it's not certain whether we will meet your island on our way but at least you would be a step closer to your goal"

-"This'll be my pleasure, if you're ready to let me in then I'll gladly oblige"

-"Then it is decided, I guess the presentation are done already but anyway, I am the captain Yuri Delys, welcome aboard mister Zack"

-"Just Zack is fine, captain Delys"

Nina suddenly came out of the crowd at this moment.

-"Yay, your joining us right? Then now I've got an older sister and an older brother!"

Nina then dragged Zack off his seat.

"Come, come let have lots of fun and dance until tomorrows depart Zack-ni!"

-"Oï slow down or we'll trip! And I don't know how to dance to begin with"

-"I don't know either but who cares, let's have fun!!!"

Yuri looked at the poor Zack getting dragged all over by Nina and smiled

_There is no helping this one but I guess they can enjoy themselves a little. Tomorrow we're heading for Logtown and from there the Grand Line; there will be less time to relax then_

And so the party continued under the moon. At the same time, on another part of this ocean another party was celebrating the fall of Arlong, all under the same moon.

To be continued …

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

One more nakama in the crew, we're still behind mugiwara's crew in number but who knows, something could happen at Logtown. Zack is the first to show some kind of strange ability but what is really the extent of his power is unknown for now (hell even his creator doesn't know yet). I like the way it worked for this character but I am not sure of the way I've taken with Nina, maybe I made her a bit too childish. Sometime it sees like your own character escape your control and do as they please but well, I'll see how it works for the next part. With the multiplication of the crewmember it'll be harder to give everyone an equal amount attention and I fear the time when I'll have to deal with big event implying multiple groups to follow at the same time. We are not here yet but I hope you'll stay with me until then, once again thanks to all for reading.


End file.
